Recovery Friendly Corporate Culture

Posted on: August 28th, 2019

What is a ‘drinking culture’?

A ‘drinking culture’ is a way of participating in alcohol
consumption, that is developed through the creation of norms and traditions
that we establish as we consume alcoholic beverages for social and recreational
purposes. We have been taught these social norms and traditions from a very
early age. As children we watch adults drink at children’s birthday parties or
religious milestones. We learn that sneaking drinks in high school is cool, and
perhaps experience peer pressure to join in. In college or university we learn
that heavy drinking is almost a right-of-passage. By the time we get into our
first corporate job, we are quite aware that heavy drinking is frequently a
part of our social environment and can inform our ability to fit in
successfully. Often the
‘Friday night indulgence’ is a way to break the ice with colleagues, or
business dinners are places to bond over heavy drinking. It can cross
our mind that some of these expectations can be unhealthy, for those around
us—or potentially even for ourselves, but it is easy to shrug off because it is
so widely acceptable.

All of these
elements come together to create and endorse a ‘drinking culture’, normalizing
heavy drinking as a part of the corporate experience.

The questions
becomes: Who are we leaving out in this culture of alcohol—or more
importantly—who are we harming? Or, more to the point: How can we be more
inclusive and health positive in the development of our corporate culture?

Thankfully, within corporate culture, there have been
many excellent shifts that lay the groundwork for a shift away from ‘drinking
culture.’ For example, there are many companies that have begun to encourage
healthy social norms regarding cultural and family diversity—there has been a
huge shift towards tolerance and acceptance in the workplace when it comes to
diversity, and many training programs and incentives that help this shift
along. Coinciding with these efforts are the efforts of many health insurance
companies who encourage corporations to focus on and create health, fitness and
nutritional incentives, as well as smoking cessation incentives within the
corporate community. Currently, these types of incentives are considered a norm
and can regularly be within the corporate environment.

Much can be drawn from in the examples above—we have come
a long way in terms of normalizing healthy corporate culture.

It is not a difficult transition to adjust ideas of
‘drinking culture’ to something healthy and positive.

It can be done.

Some history:

The establishment of substance use disorder protocol has
taken an interesting path in the workplace.

There was a time when all new employees were drug tested,
in the hope of assuring a drug and alcohol free workplace. At one point, EAP’s
(Employee Assistance Programs) were put in place, but because of their
cumbersome financial realities, many were quickly cut back along with economic
downturns or any given financial struggles of an organization. In the wake of
the EAP’s, many organizations have developed a drug-free or zero-tolerance work
place, with policies created with good intent, but ineffective for personnel
with chronic issues or substance use disorders or any other kind of addictive
behaviors. The difficulty with this shift to the zero tolerance workplace is that
instead of receiving much needed care, a person with substance use challenges
experience job loss as opposed to any transformative therapeutic experience.

Due to the increase in stressful lifestyles—an
unfortunate symptom of our time—it is more complicated to be an employer than
ever, in terms of the maintenance of
health and wellbeing for employees. It does not help matters that recreational
drug use is becoming legalized norm, or that doctors regularly prescribe
extremely addictive Opiods and Benzodiazephines without much regard for the
long term issues that can come with such prescribing. It can often seem that
efforts to have healthy corporate culture rooted in staff satisfaction and
increased productivity and wellness are frequently sabotaged by these outside
influences and by a lack of resources.

We know it can be frustrating to be a positive force in
the effort to mobilize this issue.

So, the question becomes: how can we move from the
current norm and into an effective plan to address substance abuse within the
workplace? How can we as a company be of help, while at the same time improve
corporate culture?

Life stressors and chronic illness often exhibit
themselves in various job performance issues.

They can be assessed with appropriate and persistent
screening. When such screening is put in place, employers have the opportunity
to identify a mounting problem, rather than waiting until someone’s job is in
jeopardy or resulting workplace issues compound into legalities or difficulties
for the staff or the company.

Here at Urban Recovery, we suggest that the
implementation of a behavioral health assessment within your company, or a referral
system that connects experts who can successfully create an individual or
family plan to support positive behavioral health changes, is at the forefront
of a new model of care when it comes to substance abuse challenges. If a
mindful partnership exists between a workplace and behavioral health experts,
and the channel is fluid and simple—everyone benefits.

A corporate culture which supports the wellbeing and
productivity for those experiencing substance abuse difficulties is more than
possible. From workplace incentives that contribute to the development of a healthy norm, to the
implementation of individual/family plans to address such issues— there are
tangible ways to successfully address substance use disorders and create a
positive workplace environment—an environment where there is ample opportunity
to upgrade and modify job performance, as well as help the overall wellness of
every individual.

In this day and age, it is prudent to consider the
inclusion of healthcare screening and wellness models that include behavioral
health. There is an abundance of personnel who can assist corporations with
staff experiencing behavioral health issues in the workplace. Interventionists,
therapists and psychologists are all well versed in behavioural health and
substance abuse disorders and can be an excellent resource. There are many
inpatient and outpatient treatment centers for a variety of substance abuse
issues, as well as an entire continuum of companions, coaches, case managers
and sober living spaces willing to assist corporate personnel. It is much
easier to implement a referral process that is impactful and ranges throughout
a variety of care models in this day and age, where there is a large arsenal of
professionals dedicated to substance use disorders. It only requires a good
connection to such professionals to get the ball rolling.

Here at Urban Recovery, we believe that we possess the
tools and connections to achieve this.

At Urban Recovery, we have developed a screening tool that can easily adapt to your company to perhaps assist your executives or HR team with monitoring and identifying personnel struggling at work or in their personal life:

It is in the implementation of tools such as this, along
with professional, around the clock coverage that we believe we can make a
difference in your company. Here at Urban Recovery, if you need to talk to our
team about an employee, corporate issues, or the possibility of expanding your
corporate strategic plan to include behavioral health norms in your day-to-day
culture or social event planning, we are on the other end of the phone 24/7.

We have the tools that can help.

Today is a good day to start looking at the behavioral
health and social norms of your corporation.

Many new and exciting approaches to corporate culture can
be implemented that go a far distance to creating healthy employees and an
enjoyable and productive workplace. There is a solution.

We are happy to book a one on one executive training or a corporate presentation in your workplace, so feel free to reach out. All you have to do is call Urban Recovery today at 646-960-6656 or contact CEO Denise Bertin-Epp [email protected] if you would like to have a conversation about how your workplace can be more recovery friendly. It will most certainly be a life changing call—a chance to breathe new life into the culture of your workplace, and help individuals find new opportunity and wellbeing.

Break away from ‘drinking culture’ in your business today
and give us a call.

SOCIAL

Urban Recovery is a facility based on the vision of delivering recovery from the best place and the perfect location. Being in the center of New York City, in Brooklyn in the Redhook area and close to three major international airports: (LGA) LaGuardia Airport, (JFK) Kennedy, (EWR)Newark Airport affords easy access to international clients from all corners of the world and their families. Inquiries from cities all over the world like: Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Miami, Florida, Michigan, Canada and the UK and call in with a direct link from Urban Recovery website.

Urban Recovery has developed a signature model for wellness that is unparalleled in the industry. In fact, UR is the only private, free-standing residential treatment center in New York City. Our approach combines an internationally-recognized treatment team of clinical, administration and recovery management professionals who know how to provide a high-end experience and facility to support a residential substance and alcohol treatment.

Whether you come from across the world or across the river, UR will work with you and your trusted providers that can help you make a healthy, successful, and stable transition back to your life.